


In my dreams, I’ll be free

by voidix



Category: Yugioh
Genre: Gen, I have no idea how snakes work dont @ me, Pre Canon, Snakes, casteshipping - Freeform, if you want it to be, talk of poverty, that shipname is a choice tho
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-16
Updated: 2021-02-16
Packaged: 2021-03-17 20:21:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,728
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29477622
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/voidix/pseuds/voidix
Summary: What if Atem and Bakura had met before? What if these purple eyes were once the eyes of a friend not an enemy?
Comments: 2
Kudos: 5





	In my dreams, I’ll be free

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you again sapphire for beta reading this I love you.  
> Also punctuation is my enemy so fair warning there might be some comas missing pretend they’re there.

It was one of those days. The Sahara’s sun shone mercilessly down on the traveling group of men and yet the guards didn’t seem to be bothered. They were used to it by now. The High Priest leading the way pretended the heat wasn’t making him light-headed but it was clear he was struggling. Atem was annoyed. They had been walking in the desert for hours now and yet they didn’t seem to get any closer to the palace. Then again what did Atem know. To him the desert looked all the same which didn’t help his mood at all. He had been out for only one day but he already was missing the palace with its high ceilings that made the desert weather a lot more bearable. And of course, there was this other thing.

When his father suggested that he should take some more responsibility and maybe walks through towns and get to know the people, watch how they acted around him to get a taste of what it’s like to be the pharaoh, Atem was excited. He imagined him and his father walking through cities together while the people cheered and praised them. What happened instead is that it was him and the high priest and some guards walking through villages of hungry people trying to plea for some bread or rice if they managed to get close enough to the group of travelers without the guards threatening to kill or arrest them. 

“They are just doing their jobs.” He tried to tell himself but it still felt wrong. These people, they were just trying to survive, to feed themselves and their loved ones. They didn’t deserve this. Growing up Atem had heard his father preach about peace and mercy, about love and forgiveness. He had made sure to teach Atem about loving his people and looking out for them but the only thing he could see on the high priest’s face whenever someone approached was disgust and resentment. Was this really the way he was expected to treat the people of Egypt? The same people he was taught to protect and look out for because, in the end, they were at his mercy?

“Shouldn’t we give them something? We have enough.” Atem tried to ask the priest but got scolded instead. “My naive prince”, he had said, “don’t be fooled by their appearance. You may not realize it with your young and idealistic mind but these people? They are thieves and liars. They may not look like it but they’re greedy and arrogant. We cannot give in to the demands of such individuals. Do you think the gods would let law-abiding, faithful people live in such poor circumstances? Of course not! It’s their own irresponsibility and foolishness that got them to exist in such pathetic conditions. Do you understand?” The disgust in the high priest's voice was hard to overlook.

Atem had nodded slowly just to avoid another lecture. In truth, his gut was twisting with each word that came out of the old man’s mouth. Not out of fear but out of discomfort. Deep down he knew the priest was wrong. He may be young and inexperienced but he could never in his life imagine how the man wearing an old, dirty piece of cloth that was clearly too small for his size and wouldn’t protect him from the deadly rays of the desert sun begging on his knees for some bread crumbs could be a liar. Or the woman whose rib cage was visible through her cheap, thin galabeya who was clutching her crying baby in her hands asking for water. She couldn’t be a thief. But Atem couldn’t open his mouth he just sat on the camel's back and watched the guards scare them away in silence. 

While passing through the village Atem spotted something. A group of kids around his age chasing each other while laughing and screaming with joy. He watched as one of them fell and hit their knee on a rock. The others stopped their game and helped their friend stand up and the game continued. They were wearing no sandals. It was their feet against the burning, rough sand but they did not seem phased at all. Atem noticed that most of them were injured but it didn’t matter they were just having so much fun they barely even noticed. Atem sometimes wished he could be one of them. A child playing in the sand with no responsibilities, no worries, and something else. He had always wanted a friend. 

“Can we rest for a bit? I'm getting tired.” Atem announced when they passed by an oasis. The desert sun slowly but surely was getting to him.  
“But your highness if we aren’t back by sunset the pharaoh will worry.” Of course, the high priest argued what else did Atem expect from this man. “Just an hour then we can go continue.” In the end, the old man agreed. The soldiers looked relieved. Clearly, they were exhausted as well from threatening innocent civilians the entire day. 

After helping him climb down from the camel's back Atem watched the soldiers refresh themselves with the cool water. They probably haven’t drunk any since they started their journey at sunrise. Now the sun was getting closer to the western horizon. The worst hours of desert heat were over. After a while, even the high priest who didn’t want to leave Atem for even a second gave in. Even he couldn’t resist the call of the cool and refreshing liquid. The prince took the chance to walk a bit further away. He had been sitting for so long today his legs needed the stretching. 

Now that the sun wasn’t at its peak the wind started to get cooler as well. Atem liked the feeling of the breeze flowing through his hair and messing it up a little. Soon enough the soldiers would be completely out of earshot. Nobody to tell him who to talk to, how to sit, or how to behave. The desert didn’t care that he was Prince Atem the future ruler of the lands. In its yellow heart, he was just a boy , with no attachments and no responsibilities. He was free at least for the next 30 minutes or so. 

Dreamy as he was Atem didn’t notice where he was going until a hissing dragged him out of his thoughts. A snake?! Shocked Atem took 3 steps back. Indeed it was a snake but not any snake. It was a cobra and by the size of it, it was a big one. Atem felt himself freeze up. “Remember your training what do you do when you encounter a cobra what do you do when-“ this was useless he couldn’t think and he couldn’t move and from the looks of it the animal was getting ready to attack. ”Prince Atem died by snake venom because he was too afraid to do anything about it”, he could hear the high priest's cold voice clearly in his head. Of course, he would try to sound as shocked as possible and sprinkle his words with some pity but Atem wasn’t sure if the old man had the capacity for such emotions. “That’s it then,” he told himself while the snake kept coming closer. If he survived this he would be grounded for life. Atem chuckled. You’re about to die and you’re still more afraid of punishment. It was funny in the most ironic way. The prince was about to start praying when he felt himself being pulled away right before the snake attacked. It hit the rock behind him and just slithered away dazed.

“You’re an idiot you know that” a child’s voice scolded him but he was too confused to reply. “Ehm..what”, is the only thing he could stammer. “Pretty stupid to just walk up to a cobra like this you could’ve died!” The voice continued without missing a beat. Atem looked up. In front of him was a boy about his age. He had dark brown skin that was marked with many scars. The yellow sand was clear as day in his white chaotic hair that seemed to have a will of its own and not obey any laws that may have existed. The only thing shielding his body from the sun was two pieces of cloth sewed together to resemble a gala beta and nothing separated his feet from the burning sand. Atem wasn’t sure if it was a trick of the light or if his eyes were really purple but he knew they were certainly unique. Now this guy, he looked like a survivor Atem on the other hand not so. 

“Th..thank you I didn’t see it.”  
“Of course you didn’t you idiot cobra’s blend in with the sand really well it’s what makes them so dangerous”, the boy giggled,” not to me tho I’m a master in spotting them.” The white-haired boy radiated confidence Atem found admirable.  
“I’m glad such a master was nearby to save me then,” Atem replied, the giggling having infected him.  
The kid stretched out his hand toward Atem;, “I’m Bakura nice to meet you.” Atem shook the boy's hand;,” I’m eh...Namu” The prince didn’t know why he had done that but now there was no going back.  
“Nice to meet you Namu. A little bit more north there is a really steep sand dune. I was going sandboarding there, would you like to come with me?” Atem looked back at the oasis sure a few more minutes wouldn’t do any damage and the boy, Bakura, seemed nice. “Yes, sure” and with that the boys made their way up north.

The walk to the dune was shorter than the prince had expected. It wasn’t easy to keep up with Bakura tho. His new friend was so excited he started running ahead and the wind blowing sand into their faces didn’t seem to bother him the least bit. Atem on the other hand who was not used to this had to stop and close his eyes every few minutes to stop them from getting itchy.  
“Come on Namu we are almost there.” Bakura’s excitement was contagious and soon Atem found himself ontop of the dune looking down on the landscape. The oasis looked like a tiny point from up there. Atem felt like he could grab it and blow it away. 

“Would you like to go first?” The voice of his new friend brought him back to reality. Bakura was holding one of the two wooden boards towards him. 

“I..eh..Bakura how does sandboarding work?”  
“You’ve never been sandblasting before?” Bakura looked like Atem had just asked him if sand is yellow.  
“No this is my first time actually where I’m from we don’t have-“  
“You don’t have sand?” Bakura was even more confused now. What Atem actually wanted to say was fun, where he is from they didn’t have fun.  
“We..we don’t have dunes, it's very flat.” Atem was not a good liar.  
“Oh so you live near the delta that’s cool, I’ve always wanted to visit that place.”  
“Yes the delta of course.” The prince wasn’t sure how he got away this easily but he was glad.  
“Okay let me show you. There are 3 main positions. You can either sit on the board, stand on the board or my personal favorite: lie on your stomach on the board and just let gravity create the perfect slide down.” Bakura explained while demonstrating the different positions. He seemed very pleased with himself.  
“Understood?”  
“Yes tha-“ and before Atem could finish Bakura was heading down the dune his laughter echoing in all directions. 

Atem wasn’t so sure about this. It didn’t look safe. What if he fell over and-  
“COME ON NAMU I'M WAITING FOR YOU!” The other boy’s voice came from below. He had actually made it down safe. Atem sat on his board. Hesitantly he dragged himself closer to the edge and then WHOOSH!

The air blew into his face but it didn’t matter. With the increasing speed of the board Atem felt more like he was flying and when you’re flying nothing else matters. Not the sand blowing in your face, not the possibility of injury, nothing. It was just him, his new friend and the forces of nature. Although going up the dune with the boards was exhausting the boys kept doing it over and over again. And every time it was worth it.

“If you’re not a coward you will stand next time.” Bakura challenged with a smug look on his face.  
“That’s not fair you weren’t exactly standing either.” Atem replied without hesitating.  
“Fine we both stand.” The white haired boy decided and they raced up the sand dune for the 10th time this day.  
“Okay on 3.”  
“3...2..1..GO!” Both boys made their way down at the same time and for a second they felt invincible. And then they remembered gravity applied to them too. Atem lost his balance first and fell to the right side knocking Bakura off his board as well. Together they rolled down the rest of the way. Soon their screams turned into laughter and they both arrived at the bottom safely laughing like the funniest joke in the world was revealed to them. 

“I haven’t seen that move before. I have to give it to you Namu you are indeed innovative.” Bakura teased.  
“What can I say, I’m a genius.” Atem replied while wiping the sand of his lips. The boys started laughing again. Today wasn’t so bad after all Atem thought to himself while looking at the sun now almost touching the horizon.

“Thank you again.”  
“For what?”  
“For saving me from the snake.”  
“Oh no problem that’s what friends are for.”

Friends? Is that what they were. It felt nice to finally have a friend.

“Why would it do that though? Attack me completely unprovoked.”  
“Unprovoked? Not really!”  
Now Atem was the confused one.  
“What do you mean by that I was just walking.”  
“That’s your perspective. From the perspective of the snake you were an intruder possibly there to hurt it or its children that’s why it got defensive.”  
“Makes sense”  
“Wouldn’t you do everything to protect the people you care about and love?”

Atem thought back to the hungry woman, back to the pleading man. These people were going to be under his protection someday. And when that day comes he would have to do everything in his power to provide and protect them. That’s what Atem promised himself that day. 

“Yes, yes Bakura you’re ri-“ Atem couldn’t even finish his sentence before a familiar voice shattered the closest thing to freedom Atem would ever experience in the near future. 

“YOU THIEF HOW DARE YOU KIDNAP THE PRINCE?! GUARDS ARREST HIM.” The high priests voice boomed through the vastness of the desert. 

“The p..p..prince?” is all Bakura could stutter while the guards moved towards him weapons pointed and ready.  
Atem felt like he was in front of the snake again, frozen. But this time would be different. He had to protect the people he loved right?

“STOP. He didn’t kidnap me. I willingly went with him LET HIM GO.” Atem didn’t care if he would never see the sunlight again. This boy was innocent and he wouldn’t let his own cowardice make Bakura suffer. Any fear of punishment was out the window now. His friend was in danger and he had to help him.  
“I said LET HIM GO! ARE YOU GOING TO DEFYAN ORDER FROM YOUR FUTURE PHARAO?” Atem didn’t know what came over him. He never knew his voice could have that much authority. 

The guards let Bakura go and the boy didn’t lose a second. He looked back one last time his greyish purple eyes full of an emotion Atem couldn’t place. 

“We will meet again. I promise!” The prince shouted after him before the white haired disappears from his field of vision. “We will meet again.” Atem whispered to himself the entire way home while the high priest watched him like an Eagle circling it’s prey.  
And the prince was right the familiar purple eyes were the first thing Atem noticed when the palace intruder demanded they hand over the millennium items this instant.

**Author's Note:**

> If you’ve made it this far thank you so much for reading. I hope you enjoyed it! I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments.  
> Thank you ^^


End file.
